frilly pant-a-wear

Frills, frills, frills...now who doesn't love a pair of frilly knickers, or pant-a-wear as my little girl calls them! (too cute, not that I am biased or anything)
I have had so much fun making these beauties, it is actually really hard to stop thinking up all the combinations of fabric I could use. Such a great way to use those little treasured pieces of fabric up, that you just couldn't possibly part with, because they are just too gorgeous and one day surely you will find a use for them ;)
Enough of my day-dreaming / (dare I say) fantasising about fabric..mmmm
Onto the frilly pant-a-wear..these particular ones are all sized to fit the 12-18 months, but I will be making more in other smaller sizes, and am very happy to make to a particular colour combo and size requirement. Just message me if you want to order any of these, I am yet to put them up on my MadeIt site, but will get around to it. They are priced at $16 a pair or two for $30, plus postage.

xx manda

school holiday fun..and a bit of sanity

Here is a little something which I did with my kids today. I found the idea on this blog.
When I saw this idea, I put it in my memory bank, and those of you that know me well, will know that my memory bank isn't always available for withdrawls ;) But today was the day I needed this one.
It is only day 2 of holidays here, and the kids were starting to climb the walls already, and therefore drive this mama around the bend! So I dipped into the memory bank and remembered this little nature palette which I saw a while ago.
All it takes is some cardboard, (my weetbix box came in handy here) a marker, some crayons or textas, and some double sided tape...just a few of the usual things a crafty mama has at her disposal.
Draw the outline of a painters palette on the cardboard, then mark some circles for the colours and write the name of a colour under each one. Then set the kids to work on colouring in the circles with the relevant colour (this is where the big ones that can read, can help the little ones who can't quite just yet), then when they have finished that, you can stick on some double sided tape into each now beautifully coloured-in circle...then put the kettle on...open the back doors and "set the monkeys free"
Where upon they will (hopefully) happily roam free in the garden/yard and pull leaves off plants, petals off your flowers and dig in the rocks to find the bits and pieces they need to complete their nature palette.

Give it a go...you might even get some time for a quiet cuppa ;)

before...

and after.

xx manda

Happy Anniversary

Well, this isn't strictly a Nanny Kate thing, but I thought I would share it with you all anyway.
Last Wednesday was my 9th wedding anniversary, and this is the card I made for my much loved hubby.
I really enjoyed making this one, and I think he quite liked it too ;)
The products I used are from stampin' up, with the exception of the 2 light blue rub-ons. If you want to find out more about stampin' up and their gorgeous products go and see my friend and stampin' mama Juliette. She is a very talented and very lovely lady, she even has classes, where you can go along and make some cards or a project. Go on, treat yourself, you won't regret it..it is sooo much fun, and trust me, anyone can do it!

xx manda

Yummy chocolate truffles

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend and are ready to take on Father's Day tomorrow (for those of you who are in Australia that is)

A couple of weekends ago I shared a lovely weekend away for 30 or so other stampin' mamas in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. And it was all organised by a gorgeous lady who is beautiful both inside and out..Marelle Taylor (find her blog here)
And on that weekend away we were all asked to bring a little something to share for morning / afternoon tea. I decided to bring some yummy choccies truffles. Now this recipe was given to me by my very dear friend Mel, a truly inspirational woman.

Now Mel assured me, as I will assure you, that they are so very easy to make...and very hard to stop eating!

Here is the recipe:

300g Oreo cookies
250g block of cream cheese
dark or milk chocolate (for dipping)
white chocolate (for drizzling)

-chuck the cookies in the food processor and whiz until finely crushed.
-chuck in the cream cheese and whiz again, until it is all nicely squished together.
-roll mixture into whatever size balls you like (I like to do mine slightly larger than the size of a macadamia nut, but it is totally up to you)
-then I put them on a tray and throw them in the fridge for about an hour.
-then you can use a toothpick if you like for this step, dip them into the melted chocolate.
-if it takes your fancy, you can drizzled some white chocolate over them (I like to do this, because it hides any choccie dipping boo-boo's and makes them look pretty!)

Have fun making these yummy treats...maybe even some for dad tomorrow? If he is lucky enough.

x manda